All in God’s Will
How pure is your life? Are you cleansed and holy, or still allowing something to tarnish your relationship with God? Is His will paramount in your life, or are you still the center of your universe? Where are you in the process of holiness? Perhaps you think you are basically doing well and that your faith is flourishing, and yet things keep popping up in your day to day life that cause you to stumble. So you repent, ask forgiveness, and begin again. You are not alone in your labor.
How strong are you, and how strong is your faith? Does the strength of your physical body reflect the power of your faith? To answer this let’s consider the apostle Paul. Perhaps you are battling an illness, or a deformity that cripples you, and your prayer for this to be removed is seemingly falling on deaf ears. When our bodies suffer and become frail this can actually be our time of greatest dependence on God, and as such the height of our faith.
Are you searching for a secret to successful prayer? Do you think that there must be some hidden formula that would allow you to pray powerfully? Well, I think Jesus dispelled secrecy and hidden truths when He taught His disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer, but if you want additional instruction look to Mark 11 and you will find two prayer hacks that will increase your understanding of praying.
How is your faith? Are you strong in it, or is it lacking in some regard? Can you move a mountain, or do you think your faith is too small to move even a grain of sand? The disciples were chastised by Jesus on more than one occasion for their lack of faith, so do not lose heart, but ask God why you can’t do a thing, or why you don’t receive. You may find that in some cases it has less to do with faith than you think.
How do you recognize a person who has given themselves completely over to God’s will? What one trait do you see in such saints? If you mull this over in your mind, you will come to one conclusion, and one conclusion only... humility. To become a servant you must first humble yourself, to obey God without reservation you must humble yourself, and to become a child of Our Heavenly Father, you must humble yourself before Him. Are you able to place God before ourself? Are you capable of embodying the absolute humility of Christ?
I have never done this before, but my devotional message yesterday contained a gem that our society today seems to have lost. I received a nice email from Lou, a wonderful friend, a wife, mother, woman that has worked a lifetime alongside her husband, and a lady in her 80s; I want to share it with you, along with my reply to her. Here is her email regarding my grandfather’s saying that I shared briefly in yesterday’s devotional “The Revelation of Answered Prayer.”
This morning we celebrate the moment in Time when God became man. On this day, so many years ago, Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in Bethlehem. I would say that this was the beginning of God’s plan to redeem mankind, but that plan was actually conceived at the very moment of creation, even before Adam and Eve had realized sin, and continues on today.
Do you know Jesus? Have you developed a relationship with God? Are you confident in your faith and feel like you have a handle on it? If you answered yes to the first two questions, that is exciting and wonderful. If you answered yes to the third then you are in for some big surprises as you read on.
Do you trust enough in God to allow yourself to be used unconditionally to accomplish His good will? Do you believe that He brings bad situations upon you, or do you believe He uses you amidst bad situations for His good purposes?
Are you completely dressed and ready for the day, or have you professed your belief in God and Jesus Christ, but not clothed yourself in those things they provide you that will protect you against the world? On top of that, are you ready to wrestle with the issues pertaining to God’s will for your life that require you to be more than an unthinking creature?
Are you an individual? Do you see yourself as distinctly and physically individual? How about your personality? In fact, the one is what you are, and the other is who you are. As individuals we are referring to our physical selves, and although alike in many ways, God has made each of us unique. Our personalities, on the other hand are experienced more than seen, and so boundless in their nature that only God can truly understand them. When Jesus speaks in John 17:22-23, which of these is he referring to?
When the Lord gives us a specific calling, or mission, that He wants us to accomplish, how do we know when it is complete? Have you ever left spiritual business unfinished because you took your eyes off of the lord? Whether it is praying for someone each day, being a loving spouse, serving in a far off land, or simply mowing the yard of a sick neighbor; when does stopping become a matter of God, as opposed to our own lack of desire to continue on?
When God is working in another’s life do you get in His way? Are you one of those people we refer to as a “fixer”, but who lets Himself get out of control on a regular basis? Do you find that in an attempt to repair a situation you come between God and the miracle He is about to perform? Do you let your own will and intellect overreach its bounds? Well if so, get ready to be corrected... and to possibly hurt lives.
When God speaks do you answer straightway? When God says “Come” do you immediately go to Him? When Jesus says “Go do...” are you willing to drop whatever you are presently doing and go? By our very nature we are procrastinators, some of us more than others, but all of us have some degree of this trait in us. However, when God reaches out to us He expects action and not excuses., and for us to obey exactly as He has instructed.
Do you look back at your life of faith with regret? Do you look down and feel like a failure because you weren’t a Billy Graham, or made some great theological impact? This happens to pastors, missionaries, and church workers, quite often. How about those of us who are lay people, everyday Christians, and parishioners? Do you think that you have let Jesus down because you weren’t able to contribute a huge amount of money to the church, sit on the board, or head up a committee? Well stop right there!!